Week 6 Storytelling: A Squirrel's Tale

In a great, towering tree in an ancient forest there lived an old squirrel. He kept a quiet, peaceful home, spending his day methodically gathering nuts to store up for the winter. He had few neighbors. Other squirrels flocked to a sunnier part of the woods, scrambling over one another for the best morsels and filling the woods with their chattering and rustling, but this squirrel was content to stay in his secluded little nest. He had had enough excitement for a lifetime. 

One day, high-pitched squeaks and squeals broke the silence of his cloister – his grand-pups had come to visit. The youngsters bounded up the trail, their parents lagging behind. “Grampa, grampa!” They scurried up into the boughs of the tree and gathered around their grandfather. “Mama says you’ll tell us a story!” 

“Oh?” he smiled. He wasn’t much of one for chatting, but he could never resist those fuzzy little faces. “Which one shall we hear this time? The Squirrel who Saved the Monkey King? Or how about The Squirrels on Moving Mountain?” 

“No, Mama says you have a different story.” 

“A new one.”

“Yeah!” 

Finally, their mother caught up. “I told them it was time to hear the story of 'The Squirrel who Built the Lanka Bridge'”. 

“Ah,” the old squirrel settled in. “Now there is a story. Gather round, pups, and listen closely. This is a true story about the squirrel who built the Lanka Bridge – and that squirrel was me.” 

The pups all drew closer and gazed at their grandfather with wide, shining eyes. All was silent and still as the old squirrel told his tale: 

Well, a long time ago, when I was just a young pup like you, some very strange creatures came to our part of the forest. They were very bad creatures, always crashing about the forest, fighting and causing harm to others. They were like men – I’ve told you stories of men – but different. They were horrible and fearsome to look at. Some had horns, or claws, or great pointed fangs. Some were giants. And some even had too many heads. 

These creatures were called rakshasas, and the squirrels weren’t the only ones who wished them gone. Word traveled through the trees that a band of humans, accompanied by some very strange animals that walked on two legs and even talked like men, was in pursuit of these rakshasas. Their journey led them right to the coast, where Lanka Bridge now stands. Only, there was no Lanka Bridge back then – just empty sea. 

I was a youthful, curious lad then, so naturally I followed the humans. There was one in particular – he seemed to be their leader. They called him Rama. Now, pups, you all know that squirrels and humans generally don’t mix, but I can tell you that as soon as I laid eyes upon this man, I felt a deep awe and devotion to him. I cannot explain it, but I was sure I was in the presence of the Great God himself, he who pulls the leaves from their winter slumber and sends acorns raining from the skies. I knew that, if I only could, I would go to any lengths to help this great man. 

Rama needed to get across the ocean to Lanka, for that was where the rakshasas nested. He made a great deal of noise and made a fuss with some local gods, as men are wont to do, but finally things seemed to go his way. His strange animal crew began piling stones into the ocean and, somehow, they floated on the surface. Without a thought, I began my work. Every instinct in my body guided me. I scrambled from my comfortable branch and ventured out onto the dangerous coast, where I began to gather, not nuts, but stones. I packed as many of those sharp, dirt-tasting pebbles into my cheeks as I could and carried them to the bridge. There, I deposited my supplies, filling in all the gaps and cracks left by the careless larger creatures. Back and forth, I made my journey, never tiring. Even after all the men and monkeys had gone to sleep, I carried on, building Lanka Bridge pebble by pebble. 

Finally, after days of work, the bridge was done. Rama and his army of creatures crossed to Lanka and fought the rakshasas. I did not go on this adventure. No one, not even noble Rama, thought to ask the help of a simple squirrel.

 But I know, and now you know too, that I was the squirrel who built the Lanka Bridge. 

Building the bridge to Lanka  

Author's Note: 

I thought it was sort of funny and random how both versions, in fact, mentioned that squirrels helped build the bridge to Lanka. But, unlike all the other animal characters mentioned in the Ramayana, these squirrels aren't given names or speech or any other human qualities. So, I decided to tell the squirrel's story. Of course, we might not think the squirrel's contributions could have been that great, but from a squirrel's point of view his contribution would be a big deal. So, in this story, the squirrel spins it so that he was the hero of the story, and the whole effort would have fell through without his help. This gives the squirrel his chance to be an important character. I also explored the effect Rama seems to have on people and animal characters - many of them are able to sense that he is special, a god, etc., just by being in his presence. In this story, even though the squirrel is the hero, Rama is a very important and heroic character. He plays a role similar to that of the gods in many stories - he is a powerful but distant force that motivates the main character's actions.

Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way